With all the chargers out there, it's hard to tell from the ads which ones are best. My old charger died, so I'm in the market for a new one.

I'm looking for an AC/DC powered charger for LiPo batteries, capable of charging two batteries wired in parallel. A balancer board would be a requirement. Most of my batteries are 3 cell packs. A strict DC powered charger would be okay (I can grab a power supply for AC charging).

I'd appreciate any suggestions based on actual experiences you may have.

powerlab 6 by revolextric fma. they make great chargers and are well worth the money what with all the safety features that will hopefully prevent issues while charging.

Agreed with that, those Cellpro Chargers are good units. I've got two of the Cellpro Powerlab 8 chargers, and use them to charge anything from a 180 Mah two cell LiPo to a 6S4P A123 battery pack at 30 Amps.

Don't know for certain, but my impression is that chargers that operate on both 120 VAC and 12 Volts DC may not have high power capabilities. Wattflyer readers???

Power supplies are available from a wide variety of places. Plan on about $50 for one, depending on current capacity.

Hitec X4. Note there are 3 versions. One is AC/DC. One is DC only 50 watts per port and I forgot the specs of the 3rd.

A quick google search showed these chargers have a 50 watt rating on each port. So, with a 6S LiPo battery, that would be 4.2 Volts per cell or 4.2X6 is 25.2 Volts. With that, your maximum charge rate on a 6S LiPo battery would be 50 Watts divided by 25.2 Volts, or just under two Amps. So, a 6S 4000 Mah LiPo battery would take two hours to recharge.

If you've got smaller batteries, this Hitec unit would be just fine. Several of my club members have them, and are well satisfied. They mostly use them to recharge LiFe receiver battery packs.

My club members using big LiPo battery packs for electric motor power generally have the Cellpro chargers.

I recommend never buying a 6S pack. Buy 2X3S and put them in series. The 6S's center cells can't cool. I've had the center 2 cells go bad early in every 6S pack I have had.

For my 12S setups I use either 3 X 4S packs or 4 X 3S packs in series. Pull the packs immediately and space them out so they can cool after a flight. surface temp of the packs from the big EDF is typically 110 to 115 F when I pull them and 120 to 130 f 3 minutes later... that's the heat moving from inside the cells to the surface.
The bigger the pack the harder it is for that heat to get out.

We all have our favourite charger but the one that's right for you depends on what you need it for and very importantly your budget.

If you can answer a few questions it makes it easier to narrow down the options:

How many batteries do you need to charge and how large capacity are they?

Do you want to charge them quickly (how quickly)?

Do you see yourself moving toward larger models in the future?

Do you want the ability to charge different cell count batteries simultaneously?

How much do you have to spend?

would you like the ability to discharge to storage voltage in reasonable time?

Where are you? (availability of certain charger brands depends where you are)

All very valid questions.
I only need to charge a few packs, and recharging speed isn't that important. I'd rather spend the money for an extra battery than to fast charge.
I doubt I'd ever go much beyond a 3000mah pack. Right now, I'm looking to charge two 2200mah 3s 50C packs in parallel. Charging different capacity packs isn't that important. Discharging to storage voltage is no rush, either.
Budget? I've always believed that you get what you pay for. I don't mind spending the money on a quality unit with the features I want.
And finally, I'm in the USA. (Central Massachusetts - does that count?)

Paul here's one for you I have had mine for 2 years, and still going strong, and this guy is great to do business with. Buy it today you would have it by wed. they ship fast plus the customer service is excellent.

All very valid questions.
I only need to charge a few packs, and recharging speed isn't that important. I'd rather spend the money for an extra battery than to fast charge.
I doubt I'd ever go much beyond a 3000mah pack. Right now, I'm looking to charge two 2200mah 3s 50C packs in parallel. Charging different capacity packs isn't that important. Discharging to storage voltage is no rush, either.
Budget? I've always believed that you get what you pay for. I don't mind spending the money on a quality unit with the features I want.
And finally, I'm in the USA. (Central Massachusetts - does that count?)

Nothing wrong with the Cellpro, it's a very fine charger. But for what you say you want, and by the time you have added a suitable power supply to the Cellpro, then the one i linked to above would save you at least $200, and it would still do all you asked for.

Nothing wrong with the Cellpro, it's a very fine charger. But for what you say you want, and by the time you have added a suitable power supply to the Cellpro, then the one i linked to above would save you at least $200, and it would still do all you asked for.

Personally I most fond of the I-charger 206B w/ 350 PS. EPBuddy and ProgressiveRC have them. On power supplies, one of our club members, an Engineer at Verizon has a very successful side business supplying powerful power supplys.